Osama Bin Laden: Pentagon Releases Home Videos
BBC: The Pentagon has released home videos of Osama Bin Laden, seized at the secret Pakistani compound where he was shot dead by US commandos.

The tapes show him watching himself on television, and preparing a video message addressed to the US.

At a news briefing in Washington, intelligence officials said Bin Laden had been actively leading al-Qaeda from the compound in Abbottabad.

In total, five videos were seized during Monday's raid.

Rehearsals

In the first video, filmed in October or November 2010, Bin Laden is shown wearing a white skullcap and shirt and a golden robe. He speaks to the camera in the style of previous video addresses by the al-Qaeda leader.

Pentagon officials have removed audio from the film, citing security concerns, but said it was a message to the United States.

Three other clips appear to be rehearsals for the video message, says the BBC's Jonny Dymond in Washington. (+ video) » | Saturday, May 07, 2011

Listening Post - Smoke and Mirrors: The Bin Laden Death Story
What do we really know about the Osama bin Laden death story, and how do we know it? Also, a before and after look at the media movement that brought down the Tunisian regime.

New Footage Emerges of bin Laden Compound
Al Jazeera has obtained new footage of the compound where Osama bin Laden was killed.

The pictures show the interiors of the house where the al-Qaeda leader is thought to have been hiding for up to six years.

Imtiaz Tyab reports from Abbottabad, Pakistan.


Have you ever seen such a mess in your life? How on earth could anyone live in such squalor? OBL's money didn't do him any good, did it? It certainly didn't buy him or his family any comfort or style. Furthermore, for a person so intent on spreading the faith of Islam, he certainly doesn't appear to have lived up to it. Prophet Muhammad is said to have placed great emphasis on cleanliness and hygiene. This from The Religion of Islam website:

Muslims throughout the world have extremely high standards of personal hygiene, because Islam places great emphasis on both physical and spiritual, cleanliness and purification. While humankind in general usually considers cleanliness to be a pleasing attribute, Islam insists on it. Muslims are required to take care of their personal hygiene by assuring that they are well groomed, and that their bodies, clothing, and surroundings are clean.

It seems to me that Osama bin Laden omitted an important part of the faith he held so dear. [Source: The Religion of Islam] – © Mark

Pakistan Must Hear the Truth about the Raid
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Wounded pride and tall stories about bin Laden’s killing could be a lethal mix, says Peter Oborne in Islamabad.

Their anger and frustration was palpable. The mobs who gathered in the streets across Pakistan yesterday rallied to mourn the killing of Osama bin Laden by American forces – and promised revenge. Hundreds of men spilled out of Friday prayers in the military town of Abbottabad, where the al-Qaeda leader was killed this week. Tyres were set alight and abusive chants directed at the United States rang through the streets.

Similar rallies were taking place in several other Pakistani cities – but it must be said that their scale and ferocity was by no means as great as the country’s militant religious groups had hoped.

As I understand it, one explanation for the muted reaction may be that Pakistan feels like a country on the edge of a nervous breakdown. It is a profoundly proud nation and its people are finding it painful to come to terms with the discovery of the world’s most wanted terrorist on national soil.

Some are taking refuge in denial, and, as I walked round Abbottabad earlier this week, few people – even those who had actually witnessed the US attack – were ready to admit that bin Laden had been even living in the town. For almost a decade Pakistan politicians and religious leaders have been adamant that the terror chief was outside Pakistan or, at worst, living in one of the remote tribal areas, and effectively outside the control of the state.

Even al-Qaeda took a full four days to acknowledge its figurehead was dead – only doing so yesterday, in a statement which also vowed to wreak dire retaliation. Read on and comment » | Peter Oborne | Saturday, May 07, 2011

London: Militant Muslims Stage Mock Funeral for Bin Laden
MAIL ONLINE: Radicals warn 'it is only a matter of time' before another atrocity / EDL member burns Bin Laden effigy among extremist Muslims

A protest by hundreds of Osama Bin Laden supporters sparked fury outside the US Embassy in London today as they staged a mock 'funeral service' for the terror leader.

Police stepped in to separate the protesters and members of the English Defence League amid threats of violence from both sides.

Radicals carrying placards proclaiming 'Islam will dominate the world' branded US leaders 'murderers' and warned vengeance attacks were 'guaranteed'.

The protest came shortly after the verdict into the 7/7 inquest was released by Lady Justice Heather Hallett.

She recorded that the 52 victims had been 'unlawfully' killed when four terrorists attacked three London Underground trains and a bus in 2005. On this day of all days! Hundreds of militant Muslims stage mock funeral for Bin Laden outside U.S. embassy in London... as relatives of 7/7 terror attack victims weep at inquest just three miles away » | Daily Mail Reporter | Friday, May 06, 2011

Evan Bayh Reacts to Bin Laden Photo Controversy

Report: Al Qaeda to Release Bin Laden Audio Tape
May 6, 2011 – Website says tape was recorded inside Pakistan compound a week before his death

Bin Laden Was 'Completely Confused'
May 5, 2011 – Two sources inside the mission speak

How Did U.S. Get Bin Laden's DNA?
May 6, 2011 – Because You Asked: Where did original DNA used to confirm death come from?

Osama bin Laden Death Confirmed in Al-Qaida Statement
THE GUARDIAN: Terror group posts message on extremist websites saying it will remain 'a curse chasing the Americans and their agents'

Al-Qaida has confirmed the death of its leader, Osama bin Laden, and vowed vengeance, pledging in a statement posted on militant websites that his blood "will not be wasted".

In what is apparently the first official reaction from the militant Islamist group since Bin Laden was gunned down by US special forces troops who raided his hideout in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad, the group called on the people of Pakistan, "where Sheik Osama was killed", to rise up against their leaders.

The group would soon release an audio message from Bin Laden recorded a week before his death, said the statement, dated 3 May and signed by "the general leadership of al-Qaida". There was no independent confirmation that the message was authentic but it was posted on websites through which al-Qaida habitually issues statements.

It continued: "We stress that the blood of the holy warrior sheikh, Osama bin Laden, God bless him, is precious to us and to all Muslims and will not go in vain.

"We will remain, God willing, a curse chasing the Americans and their agents, following them outside and inside their countries. Soon, God willing, their happiness will turn to sadness, their blood will be mingled with their tears." » | Peter Walker and agencies | Friday, May 06, 2011

Bin Laden 'Planned New US Attack'
BBC: Documents found at Osama Bin Laden's Pakistan home suggest he was planning attacks on the US including on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, US reports say.

One plan aimed to target a US rail route, the reports said, although no imminent threat was detected.

Officials are examining computers, DVDs and documents seized from the Abbottabad home where they believe Bin Laden hid for up to six years.

President Obama is due to meet some of the troops involved in the operation.

He will hold private meetings on Friday at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, with at least some of the Navy Seals who took part in the raid.

On Thursday, the president visited Ground Zero, the site of the attack of 11 September 2001 in New York, laying a wreath in memory of the nearly 3,000 victims.

He told victims' families that justice had now been done, but that America "would never forget". Read on and comment » | Friday, May 06, 2011

Archbishop Rowan Williams Is Dead Wrong about the Killing of Osama bin Laden. He Should Speak as a Religious Leader, Not as a Guardian Reader
TELEGRAPH – BLOGS – CRISTINA ODONE: Rowan Williams feels “uncomfortable” about the killing of Osama bin Laden. The man was unarmed, says the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the conflicting accounts that have emerged from the White House spread confusion and doubts.

Archbishop Williams is a fine man, a good man. But he is dead wrong here. Summary execution, ie killing without trial, is just desserts for some tyrants. And Osama, the hate merchant and death peddler, was a tyrant to rank with some of the worst. His fate should be no better than theirs. Think of Benito Mussolini, who was executed by Italian partisans; he too was unarmed, but only his fellow fascists shed a tear or raised a voice in protest. Adolf Hitler cheated justice by committing suicide, but his death prompted confusion, just as in the wake of Osama’s killing. The febrile atmosphere in 1945, though, did nothing to alter the fact that Hitler was a personification of evil. Continue reading and comment » | Cristina Odone | Thursday, May 05, 2011

My comment:

As hard as it is to swallow, the Archbish had to say what he did because of Christian teachings. We lesser mortals don't want to hear it because it doesn't satisfy our baser instincts. To people who are less than good, sound practising Christians, revenge is more appealing. But for people with a higher calling, his words will find resonance.

In fairness to the man, one could hardly expect him to cheer on the killing of another, however despicable the acts he may have committed. It just wouldn't rhyme with the principles of his calling. Were he to have called for the killing of OBL, he would have been little better than the blood-thirsty imams we read about almost daily, the imams who call for the killing of the Jews and the Kuffaar. © Mark

A variant on this comment also appears here

Related »

Osama bin Laden: Hillary Clinton 'No Idea' What They Were Watching
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Hillary Clinton has said she has "no idea" what she and the rest of Barack Obama's national security team were watching at the precise moment a photographer snapped what has become the defining image of the Osama bin Laden operation.


Mrs Clinton said the raid was "38 of the most intense minutes" in her life, but her expression and the fact that her hand is covering her mouth might not convey any special significance.

The US secretary of state, who suffers from allergies, says she was embarrassed that her hand gesture may have only been her trying to stifle a cough or sneeze. » | Thursday, May 05, 2011

Now, Mrs. Clinton, if you expect us to believe that… – Mark

Osama bin Laden Dead: Pakistan Islamists Urge Mass Anti-US Rally
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Pakistan is braced for a wave of anti-American protests today(FRI) as the leading mainstream Islamist party called for its supporters to take to the streets after Friday prayers.

Resentment towards Islamabad and its support for the US war on terror is already simmering and yesterday the Jamaat-e-Islam — until recently a member of the governing coalition — said the US had violated its sovereignty by sending special forces into Abbottabad to kill Osama bin Laden.

“Even if there was any sympathy for the Americans, that would dissipate after the way they crushed and violated our sovereignty and our independence,” said Syed Munawar Hasan, the JI president.

“We have appealed to everyone to hold peaceful demonstrations on Friday on a very large scale. Our first demand is Pakistan ... should withdraw from the war on terror.” Extremists linked to the group behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks have already offered public prayers for bin Laden. Several hundred members of Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), a Pakistani charity on the US terror blacklist over its alleged connection to Lashkar-e-Taiba, the group blamed for the Mumbai attack, gathered in Karachi earlier this week to declare the al Qaeda leader a martyr.

Anti-American feeling is commonplace in Pakistan, despite repeated attempts to win hearts and mind with billions of dollars in US aid. » | Thursday, May 05, 2011

Osama bin Laden Dead: Archbishop of Canterbury Criticises White House
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Archbishop of Canterbury has criticised the White House over the killing of Osama bin Laden.


Dr Rowan Williams warned that the shooting dead of the unarmed al-Qaeda leader meant justice was not "seen to be done".

The differing accounts of the American special forces' operation which have emerged from the White House since Monday "have not helped", he said.

At a press conference at Lambeth Palace, The Daily Telegraph asked Dr Williams whether he thought the US had been right to kill bin Laden.

After declining to respond initially, he later replied: “I think the killing of an unarmed man is always going to leave a very uncomfortable feeling, because it doesn’t look as if justice is seen to be done in those circumstances.

“I think it’s also true that the different versions of events that have emerged in recent days have not done a great deal to help here.

“I don’t know full details any more than anyone else does. But I do believe that in such circumstances when we are faced with someone who was manifestly a war criminal, in terms of the atrocities inflicted, it is important that justice is seen to be observed.”

A spokesman for Archbishop Vincent Nichols, the head of the Roman Catholic church in England and Wales, said the church would not be commenting on the killing of the al-Qaeda leader. » | Tim Ross, Religious Affairs Editor | Thursday, May 05, 2011

Empire - Beyond bin Laden
Osama bin Laden is dead. The world's most wanted man has finally been killed after a hunt that lasted more than a decade, triggered global wars, and cost the lives of tens of thousands of people. What does it mean for US wars in the Muslim world? And will the US actions unleash a new wave of attacks around the world?

Vorwürfe gegen USA - Bin Laden kaltblütig erschossen
REUTERS DEUTSCHLAND: Abbottabad/Rom - Pakistan erhebt schwere Vorwürfe gegen die USA:

Das auf Osama bin Laden angesetzte US-Kommando habe den unbewaffneten Al-Kaida-Chef und vier seiner Vertrauten kaltblütig erschossen, erklärten zwei Vertreter pakistanischer Sicherheitsbehörden am Donnerstag mit Blick auf die Erstürmung des Anwesens von bin Laden in der pakistanischen Stadt Abbottabad. "Die Bewohner des Hauses waren unbewaffnet. Es gab keinen Widerstand", sagte einer. Damit widersprach er US-Darstellungen, mehrere Bewohner der Anlage seien bewaffnet gewesen und einer habe das Feuer auf die Spezialeinheit eröffnet. US-Außenministerin Hillary Clinton erklärte in Rom, weitere Details der Kommando-Aktion würden nicht veröffentlicht.

Die zwei Vertreter pakistanischer Sicherheitskräfte, die das Geschehen in dem Anwesen in der Nacht zum Montag untersuchen, erklärten dagegen, es habe kein Feuergefecht gegeben. Die Bewohner seien kaltblütig umgebracht worden. Beide Männer wollten nicht sagen, wie sie zu diesen Erkenntnissen gekommen sind. Allerdings haben die Sicherheitskräfte die überlebenden Bewohner der Anlage festgenommen. Von Reuters erworbene Fotografien aus dem Gebäude zeigen Nahaufnahmen von drei Männern in Blutlachen. Waffen sind nicht zu erkennen. Die Aufnahmen wurden von einem Mitglied pakistanischer Sicherheitskräfte kurz nach Ende des US-Einsatzes gemacht. » | Reuters | Donnerstag, 05. Mai 2011

'Bin Laden Scenario Prelude to New War'
PRESS TV: Former officials with Pakistan's military and intelligence service say the US wrongfully claims it has killed bin Laden in Pakistan to invade the country for harboring the terror leader.

United States President Barack Obama announced late Sunday that the al-Qaeda leader had been killed in a US military attack on a residence in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad north of the capital, Islamabad.

US reports claim that bin Laden had been living in a house near a Pakistani military base since 2005.

Speaking to the international Urdu daily Ausaf, the former officials said the terror mastermind had been killed elsewhere, questioning the reason for which the media had not broadcast the whereabouts and the manner of his death.

Citing the interviewees, who included General Mirza Aslam Beig, a former chief of Army staff, the newspaper said, “It is a fact that Osama bin Laden has been killed, but he has not been killed in Pakistan and this is evident in interviews with the locals and eyewitnesses.” » | HN/PKH/MGH | Wednesday, May 04, 2011

Inside Story: The Next Osama
Osama bin Laden became the face of militant Islam following the September 11 attacks in New York, and it was these attacks that propelled his organisation to the world's attention. So without bin Laden, what happens to al-Qaeda?

Inside Story, with presenter Darren Jordon, discusses with Imtiaz Gul, a political analyst and author of several books on al-Qaeda including The most dangerous palce; Paul Rogers, a professor of peace studies at the University of Bradford; and Mahan Abedin, director of research at the center for the study of terrorism.

This episode of Inside Story aired from [sic] Wednesday, May 4, 2011.

The Ethics and Realpolitik of Assassination
THE ECONOMIST: THE Jerusalem Post reports:

[Israel's] Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman MK Shaul Mofaz (Kadima) on Tuesday said that the killing of Osama bin Laden bears witness to the fact that the US has adopted the Israeli strategy of targeting terrorist leaders. In an interview with Israel Radio, Mofaz said that the strategy was originally employed by Israel following the murder of nine Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Mofaz called on the government to increase targeted killings of Palestinian terrorist leaders. The former defense minister said that targeted killings have been successful in curtailing terrorist activities.

Evidently the killing—some would say assassination or "targeted killing"—of Osama bin Laden is seen as legitimatising other countries' pro-assassination policies.

Moreover, celebrity legal eagle Alan Dershowitz argues that the non-response to Mr bin Laden's assassination from governments with a record of condemning the practice reveals the shady substance of these objections. Noting that "a US national security official has confirmed to Reuters that 'this was a kill operation' and there was no desire to capture Bin Laden alive", Mr Dershowitz correctly infers that "those who have opposed the very concept of targeted killings should be railing against the killing of Osama Bin Laden". But they aren't. » | IOWA CITY | Wednesday, May 04, 2011